Spaceborne health management standards for autonomous operations: A review and outlook

Spaceborne health management (SBHM) is crucial for ensuring autonomous operations across space infrastructure and exploration missions, particularly in future ventures to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, where human intervention is constrained. As SBHM evolves to meet increasingly complex operational demands, it must overcome significant challenges, including inconsistent terminology, ambiguous data requirements, inconsistently defined methodologies, and a lack of streamlined procedures. Standardization has emerged as a priority, providing a consistent basis for the design, development, and deployment of SBHM systems. In response to this need, this paper reviews existing prognostics and health management (PHM) standards and offers guidance for developing SBHM-specific standards. We survey representative PHM standards across organizations and analyze the standardization needs and challenges shaped by SBHM's unique technical features. A hierarchical standard framework is then proposed, comprising three layers - foundational, definition, and functional - alongside four core technical disciplines: analysis and design, data management, diagnosis and prognosis, and operation and maintenance. Together, these establish a structured foundation to guide the systematic design, integration, and evolution of SBHM standards, serving as a prototype for future-proof systems. Building on this foundation, we highlight standardization trends and technology priorities that will guide the next generation of SBHM and facilitate its adoption in future space exploration. © 2026 IAA. Published by Elsevier Ltd.